Important Dates in the History of Hawaii1778 Captain James Cook of the British Navy reached Hawaii.
1795 King Kamehameha I unified Hawaii.
1820 Protestant missionaries from New England converted the islanders to Christianity.
1827 Roman Catholic missionaries arrived, but the Hawaiians forced them to leave in 1831.
1835 Ladd & Company started the first permanent sugar plantation in Hawaii on Kauai Island.
1840 The Kingdom of Hawaii adopted its first constitution.
c. 1885 The pineapple industry began in Hawaii with the importation of sweet pineapple plants from Jamaica.
1887 King Kalakaua gave the United States exclusive rights to use Pearl Harbor as a naval station.
1893 A revolution led by nine Americans and four Europeans removed Queen Lilliuokalani from the throne.
1894 The islanders established the Republic of Hawaii.
1898 The United States annexed Hawaii.
1900 The United States established the Territory of Hawaii.
1903 The legislature first petitioned Congress for statehood.
1927 A.F. Hegenberger and L.J. Maitland made the first airplane flight from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii.
1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to visit Hawaii.
1941 The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, plunging the United States into World War II.
1950 The territorial legislature approved a state constitution.
1957 The first telephone cable from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii began operation.
1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the Union.
1960 Hawaiians voted for a President for the first time. Congress established the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii.
1962 The jet-aircraft terminal at Honolulu International Airport was completed.
1965-1969 A new state capital was built in Honolulu.
1968 A new state constitution was adopted.
